Tony - I cruised in the Caribbean for more than 5 years and found that
collecting rain water will supply almost all your needs if your are diligent
about the process of collecting and have methods to store extra water when
squalls provide an unexpected bonanza. My solution was a "teat" in my full
boat awing which allowed me to collect all the rain we needed. Two key
things the awing which you will need anyway should be well secured so as not
to flop in the wind and the placement of the teat must be tested for optimal
placement. Then no matter when it rains be prepared to collect water - day
or night and you can capture as much as 50 gallons in a squall. Depending
where you are it can be every day or once a week between opportunities and
they will come most often when ur not really ready.

I never filtered my water and only sometimes added a little bleach and never
had a problem - You did not mention how much storage you had - we had 100
gals in primary and 20 gals in a bladder plus 5 gal flexible jugs which
served us well.
"tbuck" wrote in message
...
I have been told that it is quite possible to catch all the water
required for two people when cruising the Caribbean and further south.
Has anyone devised a good system? Is the rain water filtered (bugs etc)
or stored directly to the main tank. I spoke to one cruiser who would
rinse the deck during a rain storm then had the deck drain piped to a
tank. I'm not sure if this water was used for drinking or washing etc.

Tony

G.rivera wrote:

Tony - I cruised in the Caribbean for more than 5 years and found that
collecting rain water will supply almost all your needs if your are diligent
about the process of collecting and have methods to store extra water when
squalls provide an unexpected bonanza. My solution was a "teat" in my full
boat awing which allowed me to collect all the rain we needed. Two key
things the awing which you will need anyway should be well secured so as not
to flop in the wind and the placement of the teat must be tested for optimal
placement. Then no matter when it rains be prepared to collect water - day
or night and you can capture as much as 50 gallons in a squall. Depending
where you are it can be every day or once a week between opportunities and
they will come most often when ur not really ready.

I never filtered my water and only sometimes added a little bleach and never
had a problem - You did not mention how much storage you had - we had 100
gals in primary and 20 gals in a bladder plus 5 gal flexible jugs which
served us well.
"tbuck" wrote in message
...


I have a 30 Gall tank and single hand most of the time. I just completed
a 10 week cruise (with no visits to marinas) in fresh water. I use lake
water for dishes etc when "offshore" but some of the anchorages are very
contaminated, so then tanked water is used for everything.So even in the
lakes freshwater is important.
As i plan to be in salt water within the next two years I am trying to get
a handle on sal****er issues. I expected that the water collected would
be salty even after rinsing the deck etc. The replies have not indicated
that. The main test will be to brew a good cup of tea.
I have sailed offshore in salt water but only for a few weeks at a time
so collection was not an issue.
Tony

the water collected would be salty even after rinsing the deck

No that's certainly not a problem when at anchor. It's a little more
problematic to collect water when sailing but the weight of the rain water
in the big squalls usually flattens the sea, so collection is possible
once the salty decks have washed off.

Mike